Container construction



nited States tent 3,528,585 CONTAJNER CONSTRUCTION Stan F. Kalmar, 1307 s. 2nd St., Plainfield, NJ. 07063 Filed May 29, 1969, Ser. No. 829,027 Int. Cl. B6511 21/02 US. Cl. 220-97 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An improved container construction designed to enhance and rigidify both stacking of the containers in vertical columns, and placement of the containers in display arrangements, for example, in pyramid formations. The bottom bead of the container is radially offset, relative to the axis of the container, from the top bead of the container, thereby to provide stable nesting of superimposed containers. The oflset bottom bead of each container is provided with four notches, spaced approximately 90 apart, with adjacent notches being adapted to receive the top bead of a container positioned below and axially offset from such container, thereby permitting pyramiding of the containers in a locked arrangement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates as indicated to a new container construction, and more particularly to a container construction in which the top and bottom ends of the containers are constructed to facilitate columnar stacking of superimposed containers, or pyramiding of such containers for display purposes.

In accordance with present container or can forming techniques, the top and bottom of the container are formed with beads which are pressed or rolled in sealed relation around the upper and lower edge of the cylinder or main body of the container. Although these containers are entirely satisfactory from a food preservation stand point, the present bead construction necessarily limits the contact between vertically superimposed cans to the single line surface where the beads are contiguously disposed. In pyramid display arrangements, the contact area is even less. In either position, a lateral instability prevails, and toppling of stacks or pyramids of containers is a common occurrence in supermarkets and the like. Such toppling results in breaking, collapsing or crushing of the containers, thereby resulting in economic loss and creating a problem of disposition of the damaged goods. In addition, restacking of the shelves in the area affected is required and, perhaps most important,'the toppling of the containers risks serious injury to the customer. All of these comments, of course, apply as well to pyramidal or similar display arrangements of containers.

Although various attempts have been made in the past to ameliorate the situation, no method, insofar as applicant is aware, has entirely solved the problem. Most of the intended solutions have dealt primarily with the problem of columnar stacking, and have not been particularly helpful in improving the rigidity of the containers when displayed in pyramidform.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the above in mind, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a container constructed to provide stable stacking, either in column or pyramid form.

A further, more specific object of the present invention is to provide a new container construction wherein the end walls or beads of the containers are constructed to permit nesting of superimposed containers so as to preclude lateral movement of the top container relative to the container immediately therebetween. Such nesting simultaneously provides vertical alignment of the exterior walls of the containers thereby to provide an attractive stack.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a container construction wherein either the top or bottom bead is formed with means for interlocking a superimposed, axially oifset container when a series of such containerse are in non-columnar display arrangements, for example, pyramid form or the like. Such locking means serve not only to rigidify such superimposed containers, but simultaneously function to precisely space the axially offset container thereby to provide a symmetrical display.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds with particular reference to the application drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partially fragmented showing a plurality of containers constructed in accordance with the present invention stacked in pyramid form;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view through a pair of such containers stacked in column form;

FIG. 4 is a top plan View of a container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the application drawing, wherein like parts are indicated by like reference numerals, the container constructed in accordance with the present invention is commonly and generally indicated at 10 and comprises a cylindrical body 12 and top and bottom end walls 14 and 16, respectively. The top end wall 14 can be secured to the container body 12 in any suitable manner so as to form a bead 18 which in the form shown is con tinuous and has an exterior surface coplanar with the exterior surface of the container body so as to form a smooth continuation of the same. The bead 18 can be formed in well known manner, for example, by crimping or rolling the extreme upper end of the cylindrical body 12 around the periphery of the end wall 14, with the bead 18 forming a seal at the upper end of the container. It will be noted that the top end wall 14 is otherwise flat, with the bead 18 extending upwardly sufficiently to enhance the nesting of superimposed containers, as will be presently described.

A bottom head 20 is provided which is in the form shown radially inwardly offset from the circumference of the body 12, preferably an amount equal to the thickness of the upper bead 18. The lower bead 20 extends downwardly from the plane of the bottom wall 16 a distance generally equal to the height of the bead 18 thereby to maximize the contact area when the containers are stacked in a column as shown in FIG. 3.

The bottom bead 20, similar to the upper head 18, seals the bottom end wall 16 and the cylinder body 12 at the lower end thereof. The head 20 can be formed in the illustrated offset rolling operation during which the bottom wall 16 is tightly secured in sealed relation to the container body 12.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the bottom bead 20 is formed with four notches commonly designated at 22, with these notches preferably being spaced apart. Although these notches serve no function when the containers are stacked in column formation as shown in FIG. 3, they do significantly contribute to the n'gidifying effect of the system when the containers are stacked in pyramid form as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The notches 22 formed in the bottom bead 20' are spaced so as to receive arcuate segments of the tops of beads 18 of the containers disposed below and laterally offset therefrom. It will be noted that the spacing of the notches 22 requires that the top bead 18 of the container below be oriented properly so that a complemental arcuate segment of the bead 18 can be received by the notches 22. This arrangement does not vary throughout the pyra mid stacking of the containers, so that the spacing between the vertical axis of the containers in the pyramid stack is uniform and the display thereby symmetrical. When the pyramid stack is formed, it will be seen that adjacent containers are interlocked, with each container precluded from lateral or circumferential movement thereby providing a rigidity not previously available when containers of conventional construction were stacked pyramidally.

It will thus be seen from the above description and the accompanying drawing that containers constructed in accordance with the present invention can be quickly and easily stacked either in a column or in a pyramid formation. When stacked in columns, the telescoping of the upper bead 18 around the lower bead as shown in FIG. 3 provides a highly stable support wherein the beads are in contiguous engagement with each other circumferentially throughout, with the outer ends of the beads, in addition, engaging the adjacent surfaces of the end walls 14 and 16, respectively. This arrangement precludes lateral shifting and thus inadvertent toppling of the containers.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that minor variations can be made from the above description. For example, the notches 22 could be formed in the upper head 18 rather than the lower bead 20 as illustrated, with equal facility. In addition, although four notches 22 are shown in FIG. 4, additional notches 22 could be formed to provide greater freedom in circumferentially locating the upper container 10 relative to the lower container 10 when the containers are stacked in pyramid form.

Furthermore, although the beads 18 and 20 have been disclosed above as being formed by conventional bead rolling or forming processes now practiced in the art, it will be apparent that the beads could be formed by other techniques. For example, the container body 12 and bottom wall 16 might be formed as an integral member by a deep drawing process. It will also be apparent that although the containers 10 have been illustrated as being of metal, they could as well be formed of plastic or cellulosic fiber material, with the beads 18 and 20 in such instances being formed by present manufacturing techniques best suited to the particular material being employed. Regardless of how formed, the crux of applicants invention is in the formation of the offset top and bottom beads to facilitate columnar stacking of the containers, and the forming in one or the other of the beads of circumferentially spaced notches to receive the complemental, continuous bead of the adjacent container for locking the containers when stacked in pyramid form.

I claim:

1. A container having a body portion and opposite end walls joined thereto, a top bead projecting a predetermined distance from the top end wall of said container, a bottom bead radially offset from said top bead and projecting a predetermined distance from the plane of the bottom end wall of the container, the thickness of said beads and said radial offset being such as to provide relatively close fitting nesting of superimposed containers thereby to prevent lateral shifting of said containers relative to each other when in such nested relation, and means formed in one of said top and bottom beads for locking a vertically adjacent, axially olfset container when a plurality of such containers are placed in pyramid form, said locking means comprising a plurality of notches formed in said bottom bead, an adjacent pair of said notches receiving an arcuate segment of the upper bead of a vertically adjacent container thereby to lock and laterally space such vertically adjacent container.

2. The container of claim 1 wherein four of such notches are formed, spaced apart, the spacing of such notches serving to uniformly space the upper-most one of each vertically spaced pair of containers from the bottom, supporting container thereby to provide a pyramid of locked, uniformly spaced containers.

3. The container of claim 2 wherein said notches are equal in depth to the height of said bottom bead whereby the leading edge of said arcuate segment of said upper bead of said vertically adjacent container engages said bottom end wall of said container more firmly to support the former.

4. The container of claim 1 wherein the exterior surface of said top bead is coplanar with the exterior surface of said body portion, said bottom bead being radially inwardly offset from said top bead an amount approximately equal to the thickness of said top bead, the projecting distances of said top and bottom beads being substantially equal whereby the leading edges of said beads engage the adjacent end walls of said containers and the adjacent radial faces of said beads are substantially contiguous, thereby providing nesting relations substantially precluding vertical and lateral shifting.

5. A container having a body portion and opposite end walls joined thereto, a top bead projecting a predetermined distance from the top end wall of said container, a bottom bead radially olfset from said top bead and projecting a predetermined distance from the plane of the bottom end wall of the container, the thickness of said beads and said radial ofiset being such as to provide relatively close fitting nesting of superimposed containers thereby to prevent lateral shifting of said containers relative to each other when in such nested relation, and means formed in one of said top and bottom beads for locking a vertically adjacent, axially offset container when a plurality of such containers are placed in pyramid form, said locking means comprising a plurality of notches formed in at least one of said top and bottom beads, an adjacent pair of said notches receiving an arcuate segment of the bead of a vertically adjacent container thereby to lock and laterally space such vertically adjacent container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,089,624 8/ 1937 Smith 220-97 2,144,069 1/1939 Lear 2209 7 2,310,420 2/1943 Graham 220-97 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,474,044 2/ 1967 France.

GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Primary Examiner 

